Tim Burton's Best Female Characters

David De La Riva
Updated January 15, 2025 15 items

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890 votes
189 voters

Attention, boils and ghouls! It's time to rank some of the most beloved female characters in acclaimed gothic director Tim Burton's immaculate catalog of weirdos from worst to best! Throughout the last 30 years, characters from Tim Burton movies have become a staple in the zeitgeist of cinema and a genre unto themselves, with Burton's wacky and weird creations becoming a beacon of light for all those who consider themselves strange and unusual. Films like Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas and television shows like Wednesday introduced not only some of the most beloved characters of all time, but characters that female audiences saw within themselves. 

The gothic characters of Tim Burton stole the hearts of audiences around the world, and more so than that, made audience members want to become these holistically unique goth characters themselves. Actors like Catherine O'Hara who plays Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas and Winona Ryder who play both Lydia Deets and Kim Boggs from Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands respectively stand out thanks to their melancholic attitude, their unique and abstract gothic style, and most importantly, their toughness and resistance in the face of danger. Which female Tim Burton character do you think is best?

Vote up the best Tim Burton female characters, and be sure to check out our list of Tim Burton's best films!

  • Emily the Corpse Bride
    1
    Corpse Bride
    102 votes

    While her appearance may be shocking and terrifying to those who first see her, behind the dower and rotting exterior is one of the most beautiful and wholesome characters Tim Burton has ever created. Emily, the titular Corpse Bride, is a beautiful, kind, sweet, and warm-hearted woman who is simply looking for love in the afterlife. After a tragic death became of her, Emily has been relegated to living in a place in between, desperately hoping for love to re-enter her sorrowful life.

    • Played By: Helena Bonham Carter
  • Sally
    2
    The Nightmare Before Christmas
    114 votes

    Simultaneously a heartbreaking and heartwarming character all at the same time, The Nightmare Before Christmas's Sally is every stereotypical gothic cliche wrapped into one melancholic package, and when she first appeared on screen in 1993, she took over the hearts of millions. With a gorgeous singing voice offered by Catherine O'Hara, a positively negative attitude, and a soul desperate for something more, Sally masterfully embodied the love-struck soul stuck inside us all.

    • Played By: Catherine O'Hara
  • Lydia Deetz
    3
    Beetlejuice
    118 votes

    A dark and mysterious personality is merely a facade for Beetlejuice's Lydia Deetz, as behind that gruff and gothic exterior is simply a person who thrives for love and connection. Portrayed wonderfully by Winona Ryder in her breakout role, Lydia masterfully wrapped up all the 80s tropes of the gothic and emo personality and flipped them on their head. She wasn't afraid to say what she wanted and when she wanted it, even if she could be a tad bit overdramatic about things, and despite her young age, she always seemed to be the most mature and selfless in the room.

    • Played By: Winona Ryder
  • Mrs. Lovett
    4

    Mrs. Lovett

    Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
    63 votes

    The business accomplice and partner of the titular Sweeney Todd, Mrs. Lovett is a maniacal, twisted, horrifying soul that can and will do whatever she needs to in order to both survive, and get what she wants in life. Masterfully portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter in Tim Burton's adaptation of the 1973 play of the same name, Mrs. Lovett is brutal, violent, and deranged throughout the film, and if cooking people into pies wasn't horrific enough, the tragic backstory of her mind is something that will shock and awe audiences for years to come.

    • Played By: Helena Bonham Carter
  • Kim Boggs
    5

    Kim Boggs

    Edward Scissorhands
    69 votes

    A seemingly normal teenage thrust into one of the most bizarre scenarios anyone could think of, Kim Boggs suddenly finds her life flipped on its head when Edward Scissorhands comes into her life. A drastic change from Tim Burton's leading ladies of the past, Kim Boggs, portrayed wonderfully by Winona Ryder, is the stereotypical popular girl who suddenly finds herself falling for the mysterious, dark, brooding stranger. A gentle and kind soul with a heart of gold, Kim story is of devastating heartbreak, but her character always manages to give the audience hope.

    • Played By: Winona Ryder
  • Barbara Maitland
    6
    Beetlejuice
    65 votes

    After a tragic accident ended her life, Barbara Maitland found herself a spirit of the afterlife alongside her husband, Adam, and now, she must learn to grow to accept this new life of ghosts and the paranormal. Barbara is arguably one of the most “normal” characters Tim Burton has ever imagined, as she is simply a good soul and a warm woman portrayed elegantly by Geena Davis. Even in the afterlife, all she aspires to do is help those in need, and make the best afterlife she can for both her and her husband.

    • Played By: Geena Davis
  • Catwoman
    7
    Batman Returns
    74 votes

    A daring, sexy, and sensational performance by Michelle Pfeiffer gave audiences one of the most unforgettable and incredible adaptations of a comic book character in the history of cinema with Batman Returns' Catwoman. Over the top, deranged, and sensual all at the same time, Catwoman is a dark and mysterious anti-hero who fans thought they knew, but in the hands of Tim Burton, was flipped completely on her head.

    • Played By: Michelle Pfeiffer
    • Julie Newmar
      1Julie Newmar
      951 Votes
    • Michelle Pfeiffer
      2Michelle Pfeiffer
      1,006 Votes
    • Lee Meriwether
      3Lee Meriwether
      653 Votes
  • Wednesday Addams
    8
    Wednesday
    99 votes

    Jenna Ortega shines in this modernized version of the classic Wednesday Addams character in the smash hit show Wednesday. No-nonsense, cynical, brooding, violent, and as gothic as they come, Wednesday is every parent's worst nightmare come to life, and every rebellious teenager's dream come true. With her deadpan humor and her infatuation with all things horrifying, Wednesday is the perfect character for a new era of goth kids around the globe, and her reign is just beginning. 

    • Played By: Jenna Ortega
  • Victoria Everglot
    9

    Victoria Everglot

    Corpse Bride
    63 votes

    A soft-spoken woman who yearns for love, Victoria Everglot isn't able to live the life she desires, as she must be married off to a stranger in her family's hopes for money. Victoria is an incredibly saddening and heartbreaking character who is too shy and afraid to stand up to those she calls family in order to live the life she desires. However, as time goes on, Victoria learned to be brave, and determined, and even rebel against those that she loves in order to capture the life she desires in a heartwarming story of love and growth.

    • Played By: Emily Watson
  • Morticia Addams
    10
    Wednesday
    63 votes

    An elegant and twisted retelling of the Addams Family in the hit television show Wednesday saw the patriarch of the Addams', Morticia, become reinvented for a modern audience. While she still has the wonderous and melancholic aura of those that came before her, Catherine Zeta-Jones brings a dark and mysterious backstory masterfully to life and shows that behind every horrifying exterior, even darker secrets lie ahead.

    • Played By: Catherine Zeta-Jones
  • Red Queen
    11
    Alice in Wonderland, Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass
    54 votes

    From the moment audiences see Tim Burton's Red Queen, they know that this adaptation isn't going to be like anything they've seen before. From his disproportionately large head to her loud obnoxious tone to even her proclivity for violence, this isn't the fairy tale version of the Red Queen, this is something darker and much more sinister. The Red Queen is one of the most villainous and monstrous characters Burton has ever created, and she is played masterfully by an actor all too familiar with playing Burton's baddies, Helena Bonham Carter.

    • Played By: Helena Bonham Carter
  • Delia Deetz
    12

    Delia Deetz

    Beetlejuice
    53 votes

    Emotional, over-dramatic, and always anxious, Delia Deetz perfectly exemplifies what it means to be an artist in the modern world. An over-the-top performance done to perfection by Catherine O'Hara brought Delia to life, and she is arguably the most hilarious character in a film filled to the brim with them. Delia never overstays her welcome and leaves audiences with one of the best-possessed scenes in film history.

    • Played By: Catherine O'Hara
  • Angelique Bouchard
    13

    Angelique Bouchard

    Dark Shadows
    37 votes

    A powerful, conniving, maniacal witch who will do anything to get the things she wants out of life, Angelique Bouchard is one of the scariest characters Tim Burton has ever brought to life. Burton uses the beauty of actor Eva Green to lul both audiences and characters into a false state of security, as Angelique seems to be your stereotypical provocative seductress, but behind the beauty lies a vicious and tormented monster who has lived enough lifetimes to know what it takes to survive.

    • Played By: Eva Green
  • Vicki Vale
    14
    Batman
    41 votes

    In the much more gothic and melancholic telling of the story of Batman, Tim Burton uses the character of Vicki Vale as the entry point for audiences to enter this bizarre and horrifying world. A masterful photojournalist, Vicki has the brains to go with the beauty, and while she may not have the biggest role in the film, she is a key piece in taking down the Joker. Vicki is played with a sense of wonder and strength thanks to the wonderful performance of Kim Basinger.

    • Played By: Kim Basinger
  • Dottie
    15

    Dottie

    Pee-wee's Big Adventure
    36 votes

    The best friend and inevitable love interest of the titular Pee-wee Herman, Dottie is a sweet, kind, gracious soul who, while a bit naive, has a heart of gold and will do anything to help the ones she loves. Dottie is a side character relegated to the sidelines for most of the film, however, her imprint and heart are felt throughout the entire film, which is simply due to the masterful work by Elizabeth Guttman.

    • Played By: E.G. Daily